by Charley Case
Phil pulled out a bag from the number 6 space. “Here you go.”
He handed it to Mila, who inspected the contents through the clear plastic. There wasn’t much, just a phone with dried blood on its screen, three rings, two of which had a gold chain through them, a cheap digital watch, and a wallet. The contents of the wallet had been removed and placed in a smaller Ziploc bag inside the larger one: about four dollars in cash, two rewards cards for grocery stores, and an ID from Wisconsin identifying the man as Peter Diver.
Finn immediately leaned in to inspect the rings but couldn’t feel any magic whatsoever from them. They were just simple, gold rings, though one had a diamond set into it. The rings on the chain looked like a woman’s engagement ring and wedding ring, and the other was a gold ring, sized for a man.
“Come on, he’s in here.” Phil led the way out into the main room and walked to the locker numbered 6.
“I have a feeling this is going to be way creepier than I thought,” Mila said to Danica.
“It won’t be so bad,” her friend said, putting an arm around Mila’s shoulder as they walked. “Most of the blood has been drained, so the body will be pretty clean-looking at this point.”
Mila’s face went a little white. “I don’t know if that’s better or worse.”
Finn smiled and patted her shoulder reassuringly.
Phil, not noticing any of Mila’s discomfort, pulled the door open and slid out the tray holding the dead man in one quick motion.
Mila gulped and turned a little green. Finn had to agree with her reaction. The man was naked and covered in bite marks that were nearly four inches across. Some were only perforated holes where the teeth had punctured the skin, but there was also quite a bit of flesh missing where the hounds had taken bigger bites from him, leaving huge holes in his body.
Finn shuddered when he remembered that Danica had told him the victim was still alive when he had arrived at the hospital, only to die a little while later. The pain must have been unbearable.
“Say hello to Peter Diver, everyone.” Phil waved a hand over the mutilated body, his demeanor completely unaffected by the dead man in front of him.
There wasn’t much they could get from the body, but Finn did feel the residual magic from the wounds Danica had mentioned, and it matched what he had felt coming from the hellhounds at the menagerie. This was not some random wolf attack or a cover-up; it was exactly what it looked like—a hellhound attack. And from the variation of the wound sizes, it looked like there had been multiple hounds.
Finn made eye contact with Danica, and ever so slightly nodded toward the door.
“Hey, Phil,” Danica said, switching to the sweet voice she used when trying to get someone to do something for her. “I was going to get a cup of coffee. You want to come with me?”
He held up his styrofoam cup, which was still half-full. “I’m good. Just got one a little bit ago.”
Finn rolled his eyes. This guy was denser than a neutron star.
“Well, I was going to get one for Finn and Mila too, and I was hoping you could help me carry them.” She walked over and took him by the arm, gently guiding him toward the doors while she spoke.
“Oh, okay.” He turned to Finn and Mila. “Will you two be okay for a few minutes?”
“They’ll be fine,” Danica answered before looking over her shoulder and telling them, “We’ll be back in ten minutes.” Then she pushed the swinging door open and led Phil out into the hall.
Finn waited a few seconds to be sure they were gone.
“She’s a sharp one.”
“Well, she is a doctor,” Mila said matter-of-factly. “She just plays at being the pretty girl who doesn’t know which way is up. I keep telling her she doesn’t need to put on an act just to get a guy’s attention. Though, I have noticed her doing it less and less. Maybe she and Phil are hitting it off...somehow.” She laughed. “He is an odd dude.”
Finn turned to see that she had gotten over her initial bout of queasiness, though she still wasn’t looking directly at the body.
“Well, I don’t see anything of use on the body.” He held his jacket open. “Penny, you want to take a look and see if you can find any trace of the stone skin ring on him?”
A muffled chirp sounded from his jacket, and Penny scurried out onto his chest, then up onto his shoulder. She shook herself out, flapping her wings a few times, seeming to enjoy the feeling after riding in her hammock. She hopped down onto the tray holding the body and began sniffing. She closed her eyes, glowing with faint blue magic, weaving some unseen spell.
“Let’s see what we have in the bag,” Finn suggested to Mila, leading her to a small, stainless steel tray on a stand beside one of the dissection tables.
Mila emptied the bag onto the tray but stopped him from touching anything.
“Let me grab us some gloves, just in case.”
She found boxes of latex gloves on a counter and grabbed a small pair for herself and a large set for Finn. They took a second to get the gloves on, Finn nearly ripping his open because his hands were so big. Once their hands were protected, they went about seeing what they could find on Peter Diver.
“I don’t think this is his current address.” Finn held up the Wisconsin ID before tossing it on the tray.
Mila picked up the cell phone and hit the power button. To their surprise, it still had a charge but went into a booting sequence, so she put it to the side and picked up the rings on the chain.
“Must be an ex or something,” Finn suggested.
She shook her head. “She probably died. You don't wear your ex’s rings, but you do wear your deceased spouse’s rings. Poor guy probably lost her recently if he was still wearing them.”
The phone let off a chime, and they both glanced over to see the home screen through the rust-brown of dried blood. There was a distinct ear print in the blood from where he must have called 911 after the attack.
“It’s locked, and I don’t want to try to guess the passcode. Most phones have a lockout if you put it in wrong too many times.” Mila said, frowning at their bad luck.
“Chi! Sqee shi chree,” Penny said with a shrug.
“You think that would work?” Finn asked, taking the phone and walking over to the body.
Penny lifted the dead man’s finger, and Finn pressed the button at the bottom of the phone with it. There was a click, and the phone opened.
“That’s why I keep you around.” Finn smiled at Penny, who gave him a good eye-roll.
“I can’t really see anything through the blood. We’ll need to wipe it off, but I don’t want to disturb any evidence.” Mila frowned.
“Well, the cops aren’t going to need this to find out what happened since they think it was a wolf attack. Case closed. But we need it to find the hounds, so more people don’t get hurt.” Finn gave her a shrug. “I would rather be right than lawful. Besides,” he pulled his phone out of his pocket, “we can replace it with mine. I still haven’t used it once since we got it.”
Mila gave him the face she used when she knew he was right but still didn’t like it.
He smiled and went to the counter, finding some alcohol swabs, and began cleaning the blood from the phone. When he was done, they had to use Peter’s finger to open the phone again.
“That’s going to be a problem.” Finn went through the menus till he found the password settings, but he quickly ran into an issue. “Shit, I can’t change it without entering the original.”
Mila took the phone from him. “Hang on. I think I have an idea.”
He watched her fiddle with the settings for a few minutes, then take a glove off and press her finger to the home button a few times, rolling it back and forth. She smiled and hit the power button, shutting off the screen. She hit it again, and the phone lit up but was locked. When she pressed her finger to the button, the phone unlocked.
“I updated the finger scanner. Don’t have the code, but the phone now recognizes my print.” She beamed, obvi
ously proud of herself.
Finn looked across the room at Penny. “Check out the brains on this one.”
Penny just closed her eyes and shook her head, folding her arms and placing a hand over her face.
“Well, I am a doctor,” Mila argued haughtily.
“And a clever one at that.” He smiled, leaning in to get a look at the phone.
They scrolled through his contacts, finding only a few numbers. Each was saved under a single letter as the name; O, D, J, and K.
“Well, that isn’t very helpful. We need to know where he lived, or at least where he went all the time,” Finn said.
Mila went back to the home screen and opened the map app. She pulled down the menu and smiled.
“I noticed on my phone that after I’d used my GPS for a while, it automatically understood where I lived, and labeled my house without me telling it to. Looks like the same thing happened to mister Diver.”
Finn leaned back, looking her over with a raised eyebrow. “Damn. You really are smart.”
She rolled her eyes and slipped the phone into her pocket, then started putting things back into the plastic bag. When she was done, she took Finn’s unused phone and dropped it in as well.
“Shiriir!” Penny tooted, a flame shooting from a nostril in excitement.
Finn nodded. “Good. We have an address too, so it looks like this case is in the bag.”
“What did she find?” Mila asked.
“She smells the stone ring all over him, though it’s faint since he wasn’t wearing it. This is definitely our guy.”
Mila stepped over and held out a fist to Penny. “Good work, Penn. Looks like Finn is the only one who hasn’t got them doctor brains.”
Penny fist-bumped her and hooted a laugh at Finn’s frown.
Chapter Eleven
After Phil and Danica returned, Finn and Mila said they were done with the examination, and thanked Phil for his time. As they were leaving the funeral home, attendants showed up to take the body and its belongings. Danica told Phil that she would see him on her next shift and gave him a friendly wave. Finn swore he saw her give him a wink.
Feeling confident that they had the case well in hand, Finn suggested they go have a drink, and leave the visit to Peter Diver’s house for the morning. He had a delivery coming to the bar that night, and he didn’t want to miss it.
They stopped at the condo and saw a moving truck parked out front, although from the late hour, Finn figured Simon and Becky had had the movers park it there so they wouldn’t have to find a space in the morning rush. The girls went to their respective rooms and changed into something more appropriate for a night out, while Finn and Penny watched the beginning of McLintock! for the third time that week.
Penny was pretty much over John Wayne, but she didn’t have anything better to do, so she spread out on the couch beside Finn. The girls were ready just about the time that Louise and Dev move into McLintock’s house.
Finn grabbed a small red vest that said Service Animal in white embroidery and handed it to Penny. She slipped it on as Mila and Danica laughed.
“I can't believe Danny lets you get away with that.” Mila shook her head with a big smile on her face. “Penny is obviously not a service animal.”
“He said it was fine as long as no one complained, and this lets her hang out at the table with us. Sometimes you have to just take the small victories.” He stood, and Penny hopped onto his shoulder, adjusting the vest.
“Chi shiri,” she said happily.
Finn barked a laugh. “She says you two got dressed up, why not her?”
Mila laughed. “I guess you have me there, Penny. You do look pretty cute.”
Penny smiled, her head shrinking into her shoulders as she waved the compliment away in embarrassment.
The girls had chosen to wear their magic boots, as Finn liked to think of them. Four-inch heels did amazing things to Mila’s normally four-ten frame, and Danica, having longer feet, went with five-inch heels, putting her only a couple of inches below Finn’s height.
They walked the three blocks to the Refinery. It was a nice place, but not so upscale they had to dress up, but the girls made the effort anyway.
Mila wore dark, fitted jeans and a flowing red top that hung off one shoulder, which contrasted her black hair and tanned skin perfectly. The addition of the knee-high boots put her over the edge of stylish without much effort.
Danica was similarly dressed in light blue skinny jeans and a white flowing top with both shoulders cut out, showing off her flawless, pale skin. Her boots were really just tall heels that came up to her ankle, but she insisted that they were called ankle boots. When pressed, she couldn’t explain the difference except that they “look like boots...sort of”.
Finn decided it wasn’t worth the argument.
He, of course, just wore blue jeans and his customary black t-shirt beneath his brown leather bomber jacket, like always.
He held the door for the women as they entered the bar, and Penny adjusted her vest one more time before she and Finn followed. The bar was not all that busy, but it usually wasn’t on weekdays; however, there was a small group of people there for Karaoke. Danica went to claim them a table up near the front of the little stage, while Mila and Finn went for drinks.
“Ho there, Finn,” Danny the bartender greeted, his heavy Scottish accent cutting through the warbling voices of the duet on stage. “Mila, always a pleasure, darlin'. What can I be gettin’ far ye?”
“Hello, Danny. We’ll have the usual. Danica too.” She leaned on the bar, able to get her elbows up on the top with the extra four inches from her boots.
“I’ll take a beer as well tonight,” Finn added, leaning on the bar next to Mila.
Penny, riding Finn’s shoulder, was eyeing the bowl of peanuts a few feet away on the bar, but knew better than to go after them.
Danny had made it quite clear that she was not allowed on the bar top when he had scooped her up and handed her back to Finn on one of their visits. The brazen action had almost led to a burnt and bitten hand. Luckily, Penny was sharp enough not to bite the man that could kick them out forever, but she still wanted the peanuts.
Danny quickly made gin and tonics for Mila and Danica and poured a double shot of rye whiskey and a pint for Finn. When he placed the drinks in front of them, he also scooped out a fresh bowl of peanuts from the large plastic container behind the bar and served them up with a wink at Penny.
“Ere ya go. You’ll be wantin’ ta start a tab, I’m assumin’?” he asked, rolling his head and cracking his neck.
“That would be great, Danny. Thanks.” Mila gave him a big smile and picked up the two G&Ts and headed for the table where Danica was waving to them.
Finn picked up the whiskey and beer in one hand and the bowl of peanuts in the other and gave Danny a half-salute with the bowl before following Mila.
The couple on the stage finished up their song to applause, though it was definitely not a reflection of their talent, more of their willingness to get up there in the first place.
When they reached the table, Danica had the songbook open, and several small slips of paper in front of her to write down her selections.
“How about ‘We Will Rock You’?” she suggested, then her eyes lit up. “No, wait.”
She quickly wrote down the song code and flipped the page so Mila couldn’t see what she had selected.
“You’re going to love this one.”
Mila took a long sip of her drink while giving Danica the eye. “Somehow, I doubt that.”
Penny chuckled and slipped off Finn’s shoulder to dive into the bowl of peanuts. She slithered in head-first, displacing several nuts until her head came up and out of the bowl on the opposite side, her cheeks full as she crunched away. Peanut skins and dust clung to her face, but she didn’t care. She stretched out her arms and rested them on the rim of the bowl like it was a bathtub.
Finn and the girls watched her defile the bowl of nuts. She
did the same thing every time, but it never got less weird to watch.
“I don’t know how she stays so skinny. If I ate that entire bowl of peanuts, I would have to unbutton my pants just form the sheer volume of nuts in my belly.” Mila shook her head in disbelief as Penny shoved another handful of nuts in her mouth and chewed them loudly.
“She burns a lot of calories using her magic,” Finn said, taking a sip of whiskey as Danica went up to give the DJ the slip of paper with her song selection on it. “Imagine if she were bigger. She would eat us out of house and home! Hell, she might even eat the house and home.”
Penny shot him a dark look but didn’t stop eating.
“Mila!” Danica shouted over the noise of the small crowd, waving for her to come up on stage. “We’re on.”
Mila sighed. “I hate it when she picks the song without telling me what it is beforehand.”
Finn laughed. “No, you don’t. You just like to complain about it.”
She lightly smacked his arm but smiled as she slid off her stool and nearly skipped to the stage. She took one of the microphones and gave Danica a fake glare.
Danica gave a laugh in return and, right on cue, started Don’t Stop Me Now.
“Toooonight, I’m gonna have myself a real good time.”
Mila burst out laughing at her song choice, but Danica continued. Mila recovered just in time to sing the chorus with her.
“Don’t. Stop. Me. Now.” The tempo doubled, and they sang the lead together. “Cause I’m having a good time, I’m having a good time!”
Finn smiled, and Penny repositioned herself to see the stage better from her peanut bath. Both women had pretty good singing voices, even if they tended to choose songs that didn’t exactly fit their range, but their enthusiasm made up for any mistakes, and the crowd loved them.
Right around the first musical interlude, Finn felt a small hand pulling on his jacket sleeve, and he looked down to see a small, muscular girl in a green hoodie looking up at him with a smile.
Her features were a little sharp and mature for as small as she was, and it took Finn a second to recognize her.